Lisa Reiter
My name is Lisa and in 2000, aged 34, I was diagnosed with terminal cancer (Endometrial Stromal Sarcoma) and given less than 6 months to live. After floundering around getting my head around cancer not being as curable as the adverts of the time were suggesting, I delved into an unknown and for me, a then uncomfortable world of 'alternative' therapies.
Fifteen years on, I'm still here. As my oncologist said at one point, I'm an 'experiment of one' which means no scientist would like to draw conclusions! However, I am far from alone in getting success from looking to diet and mind-body techniques to help my body to do its own healing.
It was several years before I was out of the woods and in 2008, I went 'down' with post traumatic stress disorder related to the trauma of facing death and leaving my young son, motherless. Having been through successful treatment for that, my interest in psychology was rekindled and I went on to do an MSc in Memory and Its Disorders.
I was just getting going pursuing coaching psychology when the loss of three friends to cancer way, way before their time, shook me to the core once again. It reminded me that every second needs to count. After many requests and much support from friends, family, my ever tolerant husband and now, a publisher, I am finally getting my story down on paper.
I aim to tell it honestly but to focus on the positive and what I have learned along the way. I'm using this blog to keep me company as well as discuss the challenges of writing about it all. I also hope to check my understanding of what others might want to hear about.
If I manage to inspire just one person to feel a bit more in control of their own battle, the writing will all have been worth while.
January 19, 2016 at 11:39 pm
Thanks for this timely reminder, Lisa – never too late to exercise. The second video is only available for UK residents, and I skimmed over the transcript of the first. I can’t imagine running 5k! Last year, during my 10,000 steps effort, I did add some short sprints (30 steps! said they were short) and I did begin to believe I could run on the treadmill one day. I’m also grateful for my part-time work, as I see that’s helped my elbow and hand strength. I’ve wondered how I recovered so well from twin tennis elbows – it was the muscles being fit around them.
I think I better start an upper body exercise routine – again – against the day when I stop getting paid to clean. Thanks, Lisa.
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January 16, 2016 at 6:50 pm
Great shout out! One of the things cancer gave me was the motivation to exercise -life is precious!
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January 16, 2016 at 8:12 am
You mentioned a few items of interest there. But exercise was never a good friend to me nor I to it. I do try to swim most mornings in summer and use my Wii fit in winter. It’s gentle exercise and not enough, I know. I know I will surely regret it in the future, but it’s all I’m prepared to give at the moment. Reminders usually fall on my deaf guilt-ridden ears! 🙂
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January 16, 2016 at 4:52 pm
Sounds like you’re doing more than most Norah! Don’t beat yourself up. It’s about taking the stairs not getting a ‘stairmaster’!
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January 17, 2016 at 7:12 am
I don’t do that often enough, but your article has given me an idea for an app – going to talk to my son about it. Trouble is he likes his ideas better than mine! 🙂
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January 17, 2016 at 10:03 am
Isn’t that always the way! #intriguing
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January 15, 2016 at 9:56 pm
Um, yes. I do need some exercise thanks. 😝 Seriously, I think most of us just don’t move in general enough. Forget the “perfect” body (whatever the hell that is) just movement. We tend to let hours, days go by. When I fill out a doctor form describing my level of exercise, I write “stagnant”. 😂
Thanks for the links!
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January 16, 2016 at 4:54 pm
Oh dear – like that pond of yours!😂
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January 15, 2016 at 3:14 am
Exercise is so important, but so hard for me to get out of my head and into my body! I created a “kitchen yoga” routine and have a treadmill in my office. Sometimes it is a lonely treadmill. Movement is life, and yet we do need periods of rest, especially from busy-ness.
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